On Monday’s CBS This Morning, while covering Ted Cruz’s rise in the polls, correspondent Nancy Cordes noted the Republican presidential candidate’s “outspoken opposition to ObamaCare and his willingness to take on both sides of the Washington establishment resonates with Iowa conservatives,” but warned: “That approach has made Cruz deeply unpopular with leaders in his own party, who worry that he could be just as polarizing of a nominee as Trump.”
A soundbite ran of GOP strategist Brian Walsh hammering Cruz: “He would be equally problematic....if we’re going to win in 2016 we need to expand the electorate. We need more female voters, more Hispanics. And instead of learning those lessons, you have candidates like Cruz and Trump who are doing the exact opposite.”
Both NBC’s Today and ABC’s Good Morning America covered Cruz’s surge in the polls as well, however those morning shows refrained from attacking the Texas senator’s conservatism.
Here is a full transcript of the December 14 report from Cordes:
7:03 AM ET
CHARLIE ROSE: Donald Trump is on the offensive against Ted Cruz, with his strongest criticism yet of the Texas senator. This follows new poll numbers that show Cruz is becoming the main Republican challenger to Trump. One survey finds Cruz now leads him in Iowa by ten points.
NORAH O’DONNELL: Another poll this morning finds Hillary Clinton would defeat either of them in November. She holds a 10-point margin over Trump and three-point lead over Cruz. But that poll also shows Clinton narrowly losing to Ben Carson and also losing to Marco Rubio by three points. Nancy Cordes is in Washington looking at the new numbers and how they’re changing this Republican race. Nancy, good morning.
NANCY CORDES: Good morning, this is the second poll in less than a week to show Cruz leading the GOP field in Iowa. The Trump campaign instantly trashed the poll, while Trump himself chose to trash Cruz, saying he’s unfit for the job.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Cruzing Ahead; Texas Senator Takes Lead Over Trump in Iowa]
DONALD TRUMP: I don't think he’s qualified to be president.
CORDES: Donald Trump had this message for GOP leaders who might think his support in Iowa is waning.
TRUMP: I don't go down. I go up. My whole life has been about winning. I'm going to win.
CORDES: And he went after his sometimes-ally Ted Cruz, after promising for weeks he wouldn't.
TRUMP: When you look at the way he has dealt with the Senate, where he goes in there like a – frankly, like a little bit of a maniac.
CORDES: On Twitter, Cruz brushed off the comments, posting a link to this 1980s movie clip for the song "Maniac." Cruz has refrained from attacking Trump, whose supporters he'd like to win over.
SEN. TED CRUZ [R-TX]: I like Donald Trump. A lot of our friends here have encouraged me to criticize and attack Donald Trumps, I'm not interested in doing so.
CORDES: Nationwide, the real estate mogul still has a big lead, beating Cruz by nearly 20 points in the latest CBS News/New York Times poll. Still, the Texas senator's outspoken opposition to ObamaCare and his willingness to take on both sides of the Washington establishment resonates with Iowa conservatives.
CRUZ: The way Republican leadership punishes anyone who stands up to the cartel, is they engage in public flagellation.
CORDES: That approach has made Cruz deeply unpopular with leaders in his own party, who worry that he could be just as polarizing of a nominee as Trump. Brian Walsh worked to elect Republicans to the Senate in 2010 and 2012.
BRIAN WALSH: He would be equally problematic.
CORDES: Why?
WALSH: Again, going back to the need that if we’re going to win in 2016 we need to expand the electorate. We need more female voters, more Hispanics. And instead of learning those lessons, you have candidates like Cruz and Trump who are doing the exact opposite.
CORDES: The stage is now set for tomorrow’s GOP debate in Las Vegas. Trump is front and center, with Ben Carson on his right and Ted Cruz on his left, with a total of nine participants on the stage. Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, and Senator Lindsey Graham did not make it into the main debate, Charlie, and they’ll appear earlier in the evening.
ROSE: Thanks, Nancy.
